Updated 12:10 am, Sunday, December 30, 2012

Backman, of Greenwich, wouldn't have recorded his first two-goal game as a professional, helping Bridgeport to a 4-1 win over the Manchester Monarchs at Webster Bank Arena.

"I guess you could say my legs were rested," Backman joked. "I felt good out there. I try to work hard every time I'm on the ice, and tonight, I had two. It's great."

Anders Nilsson made 31 saves, including a few big ones late, as the Sound Tigers won their third in a row.

Bridgeport coach Scott Pellerin got the call from the AHL office about Gallant while the team was on the ice for its morning skate. He'd planned for Gallant to play; Backman was one of the three forwards who stayed out late, getting in extra work they wouldn't get at night.

"We talked as a staff and decided Backs would go in the lineup," Pellerin said. "We know what he brings. He brings energy. He brings speed.

"He's been a good teammate all season."

Backman took a lead pass from Mike Halmo on a three-on-two on the third shift of the game. He went up the left wing, cut to the base of the left circle and backhanded a shot past Martin Jones' blocker at 1:39. It's the third game in a row Bridgeport has scored in the first two minutes.

He broke a tie on a rebound with 2:30 left in the second; Casey Cizikas' goal 1:14 later, seconds after Manchester hit the crossbar, made it 3-1 after two.

Attendance was 5,929.

It was a busy Saturday for the Sound Tigers even before the game.

The team announced that centerman Brock Nelson is expected to miss another two to three weeks with a jaw fracture. Nelson took a puck to the jaw Dec. 14 in Norfolk and hadn't played since.

Cantin was suffering the effects of an elbow to the head from the Connecticut Whale's Dylan McIlrath in Thursday's game at Hartford. McIlrath got a two-game suspension for the hit Saturday, while Gallant got three games for coming off the bench to fight McIlrath two minutes later.

"I had my own personal conversation with the league and expressed my opinion," Pellerin said. "We accept the suspension, the league's rule. We'll deal with it and move forward."

The team did get leading scorer Nino Niederreiter back, and he scored the last goal on a pretty power-play redirection of a Ty Wishart shot. Niederreiter sat out Thursday after taking a stick near his eye Wednesday.